Pirates Send Starting Pitcher to Minors

Mlodzinski wanted a spot in the starting rotation prior to this season and even started the Spring Training opener.

He would get the final spot in the Pirates five-man starting rotation, as right-handed pitcher Jared Jones suffered an Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) sprain in his right elbow, which has kept him out the entire season.

Mlodzinski had started in his professional career since his time with Double-A Altoona in 2022, before transitioning to a bullpen role.

He made nine starts for the Pirates, finishing with a 1-4 record, a 5.67 ERA over 39.2 innings pitched, 28 strikeouts to 12 walks and an opposing batting average of .311.

Mlodzinski would normally excel through the first time facing a batting order, but then struggled the second and third times through. This occurred in his first start on the road vs. the Tampa Bay Rays on March 31, where he had three scoreless innings and then allowed four runs in the fourth inning before leaving the game.

He did have good outings, including his second start against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on April 7, as he allowed one earned run over five innings, while posting a season-high six strikeouts for his only win on the season. He also allowed no runs over a season-high 5.2 innings pitched against the Atlanta Braves at home on May 11.

Mlodzinski struggled in his last start vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 17, as he allowed seven hits, four earned runs and a walk over 3.1 innings pitched in the 5-2 defeat.

He spoke after the game on his transition from reliever to starter and how he knows he has the talent, but needs to put it all together.

"I think what I’m learning is the importance of sticking to my strengths as a pitcher," Mlodzinski said. "I’m always willing to make an adjustment. That’s probably one of the biggest parts of this game, is you have to make an adjustment. Right now it’s figuring out what do I need to do to have success. And I think I can have good outings, and I can have some poor ones, and right now it’s what is separating those, what’s going on."

"I think each outing can present a different thing of 'okay, well this is what went wrong, this is what went well in this one.' I went through some things that I need to start doing with executing my fastball to different zones, continuing to execute my strengths will help me. I believe I have the stuff to be able to do it, it’s just figuring out how to utilize it better," he continued.

Mlodzinski spent the past two seasons with the Pirates in the bullpen, which had much better results.

He had a 3-3 record over 35 games and a 2.25 ERA over 36.0 innings pitched in 2023, 34 strikeouts to 18 walks and an opposing batting average of .214. He then had a 5-5 record in 40 games and four starts in 2024, with a 3.38 ERA over 50.2 innings pitched, 46 strikeouts to 18 walks and an opposing batting average of .223.

The Pirates took Mlodzinski with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of South Carolina.

With the addition of Burrows, the Pirates will keep a starting rotation of right-handed pitchers Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, and left-handed pitchers in Bailey Falter and Andrew Heaney at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.